AXT: Aftermath
by incurser
Summary: "Don't lose faith... Even when all seems lost, you will find your guiding star." Probably someone, somewhere.
1. Chapter 1

I find myself standing in a room with one of my closest friends. Who has just finished her check up on another person I am close to.

"'How's he doing?' I ask her.

"He's okay. Still stable. Still out of it. Do you think I gave him too much morphine?" She asks, taking off a pair of white medical gloves.

'You did give him seven doses in a row.'

"Yeah, I guess." She chuckles to himself.

'What?'

"I know he can be a bit accident prone sometimes, but this is ridiculous." I too have a small laugh, something I haven't done in a while. Not since ibitb/i happened. At that, the thoughts of him fill my mind; his looks, terrible humour, his love for me. And then, I'm filled with longing and worry.

"He'll be okay. He's strong.' She reassures. I let out a long, sad, tired sigh.

'Thank you. For caring for him.'

"Of course! He's my friend too."

'Right.' I let out another yawn, this one even sleepier than the last.

"Get some sleep, you need it. I'll wake you if anything changes." I nod to her before laying down, very very tired. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep, albeit a worry filled one.


	2. Chapter 2

Did you really think I'd leave it at that? I might be a little fucker, but I'm not evil. The last chapter was just a little… surprise I'd thought I'd give you. Anyways, Here's the REAL ending of A Xenomorphs Tale. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy. Because this one's the last.

I wake up in a room unknown to me, stuck down by the waist with hive resin to a table of sorts, like an old stone slab kind of one. For a moment, I can't remember what happened that ended me up here. I examine my chest to find Hive resin that's been woven to make a bandage and wrapped around me. I also notice a small form sleeping soundly, wrapped around my arm. I try to adjust myself without moving my arm so I can examine it better. I fail and it wakes up, staring at me for a few moments.

'Hello,' It, she, says. For some reason, I feel strangely close to her. The same as I do with Dauntless. Upon thinking about her, I wonder where she is. If something like this has happened, She'd never leave my side. My attention is pulled back to the little Xenomorph when she moves a little bit, still firmly attached to my arm.

"Hi," I reply, still confused as to why I feel so attached to this Xeno.

b'Her name's Vii, short for Vitalia,'/b Comments my split.

'And how do you know her?'

'Are you talking to me?' I didn't realise that I'd said that 'aloud'.

"Hmm? Oh, no sorry. Just thinking to myself."

b'She's the one who came out of you. Since you were very much unconscious, I took the liberty of naming her.'/b

'Came out of me?'

b'You don't remember?'/b

'No. Should I?'

b'This should help.'/b With this, flashes of scenes play out in my mind, accompanied my pain. They're of me, on my back as immense pain shoots out from my chest. It's enough for me to remember the rest. Well, what I wasn't unconscious for. Basically, the most painful thing I've ever experienced. And the thing that caused it is currently wrapped around my arm. The same thing I now feel an incredible love for as well as the need to protect the little thing.

'Are you okay?' Vii asks. I look at her, and it's safe to say, there's a helluva lot of emotions running through my mind at the moment. I turn to lay on my side, pulling Vii close. She immediately wraps herself around me.

"I'm okay. A bit tired and sore. But, okay. So, how are you."

'Well, I feel bad for hurting you.' I give her a gentle squeeze.

"Oh, It's okay, I-" She cuts me off with a huge yawn.

'Goodnight dad.' My heart stops at her words, metaphorically, this time, as I realise that, that's what I am now: A father. I smile at the thought

"Sleep tight." I look down to surprisingly find her asleep. I smile even more before falling asleep myself. My last thoughts being; 'I'm a father.' Over the next few days, I recover, spending the most time with Vii, the rest with Sarah. After about a week, I begin to worry why Dauntless hasn't come visit yet since I'm still bed-bound. I was let out but I did something I wasn't supposed to.

"I'd say that you'd be able to walk around today. But take it easy. we wouldn't want you damaging yourself any more than you already are," Sarah says to me, knocking me out of my thoughts.

"What? Sorry, I was in a world of my own." She huffs at me, before carefully helping me to my feet.

"You can walk around today but take it easy. No running around after people. We know what happened last time."

"Right, yeah. No tag with Vii."

"What even possessed you to even do that?"

"Well, I wanted to do more with her than lie down, talk and sleep."

"There are other things you can do with her than running around after each other. Why not tell her a story or something."

"I suppose. Where's Dauntless by the way?"

"She's around. She wasn't allowed to come and see you though."

"Why not?" I get a bit annoyed when I hear this.

"Because the Queen wanted you and Vii to bond. It's something that's supposed to happen when a host survives, apparently." I let out a long sigh at this. She's worried sick, I can feel it, literally.

"Well, can I see her now?" She pauses to think for a moment.

"I guess there's no harm in it." I quietly celebrate. I've been dying to see her. At that, we leave the small room I've been confined to for a week. It doesn't take me long to find Dauntless, who is asleep fairly close to where I was staying. I walk up and sit down beside her, making her stir. She looks at me, still quite sleepy.

'Hey James,' She says.I smile at her.

"Hey, sleepy head. Glad to see me?" She looks at me with a sleepy-confused expression. It quickly changes as she suddenly wakes up.

'OH MY GOD, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A DREAM!' She yells, wrapping her arms around me.

"Broken bones," I painfully wheeze, she quickly releases me from her iron grip hug.

'Sorry. I'm just really happy to see you.'

"It's okay. Besides, the feeling's mutual." With that, she pulls me into a less tight hug.

'I wonder if this is a dream.' I laugh at this.

"Well, this should help to clear up that thought." With that, I pull her face in front of mine, before giving her a long kiss. After, she wraps her arms around me once again.

'I didn't mean to say that out loud,' She says with a small, embarrassed giggle.

"No worries."

'I missed you so much! How are you feeling?'

"I'm okay. My chest is a little tight and I'm quite stiff but mostly fine."

'Dad, who's that?' Asks Vii, who, up until now, I've forgotten is here. My heart skips a few beats again when she says that.

"This is Dauntless."

'Are you the one who made dads' bed?' For a moment, I'm confused at what she means, then, I figure it out.

"You built that?" I ask Dauntless.

'Me and Ares. We used a table as a frame.'

"Well, you did a good job, it was quite comfortable." We lie down and she smiles at me before snuggling down beside me, head along my stomach and she quickly falls asleep. After I get comfy, I beckon over Vii, which she happily obliges to. She snuggles in on my other side, her head against the side of her head since she's quite a bit smaller than me, or any Xenomorph, for that matter. She too quickly falls asleep, me following shortly after.

b*Time skip*/b

It's been about two days since I was let out. It's been good. Sarah checking up on me every three hours, much to my annoyance, spending time with Dauntless and Vii, who is quite possibly the cutest little thing I've ever seen. I caught up with Ares and Aran too. Today, Sarah gave me the go ahead for leaving the hive, granted, I'll be incredibly careful and not to wander off. To which, I joke,

"Do you really want to bother telling me that? I'm gonna get distracted by something shiny and end up getting lost, like those birds who make their nests out of reflective things." She smiles a bit.

"I just want to make sure you are safe. I don't want all my hard work going down the drain. And keeping you alive is a bonus too," She remarks, to which I laugh.

"To be honest, I'm amazed that I haven't fallen apart by now."

"Like I said, hard, good quality work."

"In all seriousness, I'll be careful. Besides, I have an awesome Praetorian to look after me. Isn't that right Dauntless?"

'I'll look after him while he's fragile,' She replies after walking over, wrapping her arms around me and planting a soft kiss on my cheek. 'In more ways than one,' She then adds slyly. One of the best things about being linked to another the way that Dauntless and I are is that you can have even more private conversations with one another. Less chance of slipping up and saying something embarrassing to everyone in the room. With that, we head off to our bed. One of the other things Sarah said to do is get rest. Lots and lots of rest. It wasn't the most ideal way I would like to spend my day, mostly because it reminds me of how lazy I was before... all this... happened. Something I hoped that I'd be able to improve on. And I did, but this kinda defeats the purpose.

'Jaaaames? Helloooo?" Dauntless says, giving my face a gentle pat. It snaps me out of my thoughts. I notice that she has her annoyed face on.

"Hmm?"

'Did you hear a word I said?'

"No, sorry. Went into a world of my own there for a moment. And at that, I banish the thoughts of my old life to the back of my mind. I will dwell on that later, right now, there's something, or rather someone, who is more important at the moment. "You okay?" I ask, a little worried since she rarely has her grumpy face on. She sighs.

'It's nothing. And, as I was saying, I'm really glad you're back.'

"And so am I. But what's wrong?"

'Really, it's nothing.'

"Come on, what's go ya grumps?" I ask, trying to lighten her mood a bit.

'James. I'm fine. It's nothing.' The moment she says it, I know she's lying. She never uses my name like that. But, I leave it, if she doesn't want to say. then that's that.

"Okay then. Just remember, if anything's ever got you down, you can tell me."

'Of course!' She then sighs, 'It's just tha-' In that moment, A creature with a terrifying amount of energy hurtles towards me at breakneck speeds, and then stops dead in her tracks inches from my face.

"Hey Vii," I say, my breath wavering slightly after seeing my life flash before my eyes, terrified that she wouldn't stop and that she'll barrel through my still brittle, healing bones.

'Hey!' She then says, right into my face. She's smaller than the others, enough that she's comparable to a seven-year-old. Sarah and I have made some theories, the strongest being that she simply absorbed more of my D.N.A. Although, that doesn't explain why she's a girl considering that the gender of the Xeno is usually the same as the host. And as well as being as small as a seven-year-old, she's as energetic as one and has the same mind set. It's actually quite amusing seeing a Xenomorph much much smaller than normal race around a full sized one, the other not being able to catch her. And although it isn't the most traditional way to have a child, I'm determined to see it through.

"Hi, sweetheart. Would you mind backing up, you're a little close." She does.

'Will you play with me? I'm bored.'

"What do you want to play?"

'Let's play tag! It's funny watching you try to catch me,' she says with a giggle, making me chuckle a bit.

"I would love to love, but I'm still quite sore. Besides, we wouldn't want a repeat of last time, now would we?" At this, her mood dips.

'Okay,' She then says, a lot less enthusiastic. It saddens me to see her like this. Enough that it makes me want to, despite my quite damaged ribs.

"Why don't we do something else?" This makes her cheer up a bit.

'Like what?' At this, I ponder on what we could do. Before I can make a decision, Dauntless chimes in,

'Why don't I tell you how James and I met?'

'YEAH!' Vii yells enthusiastically. Although, I cringe when I hear Dauntless say that. The way we met isn't exactly the most cheerful of stories.

'Don't worry, I'll... bend the truth to make it a bit happier,' Dauntless says to me on our own private link. At this, I relax.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." With that, I lean back into Dauntless while Vii snuggles into me. Then, being in direct physical contact with one another, we set up our own private link, one that only Dauntless, Vii and I are included in. Another hive-mind perk that comes in handy.

'So. One day, I was jumping across the rooftops of the colony that James used to live in with his mum when-'

'What's a colony?' Vii interrupts.

'A colony is a place where a lot of humans live in their own houses, think of each house as a small hive with about three or four people in each one. They do this because sometimes when they move to a new place, it isn't able to support them so they set up their own fields full of food. But, some times, if where they move to is suitable for them then They'll just move in without changing anything. Now, no more interrupting.' Vii nods and Dauntless continues the story.

'So, as I was saying, I was jumping along the roofs of the houses when I felt something I didn't expect. I felt James' sadness. Now, don't ask me how but he was somehow transmitting his emotions through his mind into others. Anyways, I decided I would ask him what was wrong and he explained that he just lost something that was very very close to him. Now, I knew how that felt since I had lost Sarah, who was my host, as James in yours. And so, I talked to him about it, we developed a friendship and then I invited him back to our hive. And then He stayed for a while and when he went home, he was in big trouble. Needless to say, His mother wasn't the greatest fan of the idea of having one of our kind as a friend. And it was that night that he said that he really liked me and then We fell in love. Then a bunch of other things happened, but that's a story for another time. And then we ended up here.' By now, I was edging towards tears, I didn't realise how much all that still affected me.

'Wow. Are you okay?' Vii asks me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just brought up some sad memories is all," I reply.

'Oh, come here,' Dauntless says, wrapping me in a tight but gentle hug. I quickly return said hug, and then a moment later, Vii joins in. Needless to say, this is one of the happiest sad moments in my life. After the hug, I let out a long sigh.

"Thanks," I say to the two of them.

'It's okay. As long as it helped?' Vii then says. Witha nod, I answer her question,

"It did. Now, run along, I want to have a chat with Dauntless." With a nod and a final small squeeze, she darts off, quickly disappearing from view. I turn to face Dauntless.

"Thank you. For putting it that way."

'It's okay. Besides, you were about to crap your pants, not being able to think of anything else to do, weren't ya?' To be perfectly honest with me, she isn't that far from the truth.

"Yeah," I answer with a small chuckle. "And thank you as well. For staying with me through everything. It couldn't have been easy for you." She pulls me into another hug and she presses her forehead to mine, sending all the love, comfort and every other good emotion through the deep connection.

'Don't thank me for that. I wouldn't have it any other way.' With that, I push away from her before locking our lips together in a long kiss.

'I love you, so much.' I say to her through our link. With that, we lie down, still kissing for a long while before We stop so I can actually sleep. Another thing Sarah told me to get a lot of, not that I mind. At least, when I'm with Dauntless or Vii, or even both. My last thought being how this is probably the happiest time of my life, despite not being with my family anymore, or at least not my old one now. Besides, I have a much bigger one to fill their role, but never to assimilate them.

YESSSS, eight pages, pretty sure that's my longest chapter yet! And it was going to be even longer! A lot longer, now that I really think about it. That's why I'm putting the rest into another chapter, or two XP.

Now, I know that some of you are probably wondering about Cato. Don't worry, I have a plan for what's gonna happen to him. In fact, why don't you try to guess what's gonna happen, It's probably gonna surprise you when I get it out. That leads me to the next thing. I'm moving. Again. So that means, that, starting tomorrow, I probably won't be able to do any writing and for however long it takes me and my mum to pack everything up and move it in her, literal, midget car. And, I'm starting back at school next month so my priorities are gonna shift dramatically. It doesn't help that because I nearly failed all my exams bar science, which I aced, that I'm getting my laptop and phone taken away from me and being replaced with one that's like, if not an old Nokia one. So that sucks. But anyhow, that' a problem for another time and I've managed to write half a page of Authors notes. Wow, I never thought I'd do that. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading this one and I'll see you in the next. Bye!


	3. Chapter 3

A few more weeks of eating, sleeping and spending time with Vii pass, with me getting quite bored near the end.

"No, James! There's no way you're going outside. The bones aren't even fully fused yet," Sarah says to me.

"Please. I'm dying of boredom. For weeks, all I've been doing is sitting on my ass recovering."

"We've had this conversation before and the answer's the same as always. No."

"Oh come on Sarah. I'm going crazy, there's nothing for me to do."

"No!"

"Ugh! What if Dauntless goes with me?" At this, she thinks for a moment.

"No."

"Well, what about Ares too?" Again, she stops and thinks.

"No. I'm sorry but I don't want to risk it."

"Please!"

"No!" She quickly snaps. "And that's the end of it." If I could, I would have headed out a long time ago. But Sarah has told nearly everyone to make sure to keep me inside when they're on duty. And it works too since I'm pretty sure that most of them are terrified of her. The fact that they can do literally nothing to her for fear that they'd hurt her only adds to that.

"Sarah, you have to stop treating me like I'm a normal person. I'll be fine. It's not like I'm gonna be jumping off cliffs!" To this, she just lets out a long frustrated sigh.

'If I may. Perhaps I could help resolve this argument,' Mother chimes in, to my surprise and by the look of it, Sarahs' too. I haven't heard from her since my split hit her with the mental blast. How he did is beyond me. Though, at the thought of it, I feel ashamed. 'Don't feel bad, my child. I'm all right now.'

'I don't mean to be ryde but what can you say?' I think to her.

'Well. I am going to have a look over you myself and if I think you are unfit to go outside then that will be that.' I look to Sarah, who, after a moment, nods in agreement. And so we make our way to Mothers' chamber. When we get there, a feeling of guilt shoves itself into my brain at the sight of Mother. 'My child, why do you feel guilty? It's not your fault,' She then repeats to me

"I know, but I can't help it. It was done ithrough/i me." She lets out a sigh at this.

'Very well. It seems that I'm not going to change your mind. Come here to me.' I do as instructed and she picke me up, turning me this way and that. Feeling the healing bones and, albeit gently, making me wince. After a moment, she sets me down. 'I believe he is well enough to go outside. But don't go running, hunting or anything of the sort.'

"Just like that?" Sarah asks, seemingly fast by the relatively quick checkup. And, to be honest so am I.

'I am much more in tune with my childrens' physical health than you realise. Why? Do you disagree with my opinion?'

"Well, yes. But what you say goes. I am living under your 'roof' most of the time anyway." She then turns to me. "But I do agree on one thing. No strenuous physical exercise. Got it?"

"Yep!" I nod enthusiastically.

"And not alone. I'm sure that you'll agree with me on that," She adds, turning to Mother.

'Yes. Take Dauntless with you.'

"How about Ares too?" Mother thinks for a moment

'Yes, that seems good.'

"Thank you, Mother." I then say to her. With that, we turn to leave. At least, it's a 'we' for a moment. I stop. "Hey, Sarah. I'm gonna stay behind for a minute." She stops and turns to me, before shrugging.

"Sure. Just tell me before you head out." I nod before turning around and walking back into the chamber.

'Yes, my child?'

"I uh. I want to ask you something."

'Yes, what is it?'

"In private." As I say this, I nod to the Xenos milling about in the room.

''Is it something personal?'

"Just embarrassing if someone saw." She ponders on it for a moment.

'Very well.' Then, a few quick moments later, everyone who was in the room made their way out. Leaving just me and Mother. 'Now,' She then asks curiously, 'What is it that you wanted to ask me but didn't want anyone around when you did.' I don't say anything for a moment, hesitating in case she says no. Finally, I push the hesitation aside.

"Can- Can I have a hug?" With a gentle laugh, she answers.

'Of course.' She holds out her smaller pair of arms and I quickly walk to them. She lifts me up, enfolding me in both sets, holding me close. All the while, sending me warm feelings of love and care. 'I can see why you didn't want anyone to know why you did this now,' She then says.

"Yeah, teenager mindset and all." We stay like that for a while, with me hugging her back too.

'Well isn't this adorable' Says a particularly beautiful Praetorian.

b'UGH! Why does the author have to be such a dick! I was enjoying that,'/b Whines my split.

'Author?' I ask him after I'm set down, really, really confused by his statement.

b'Don't you mind. You wouldn't understand,'/b He replies. I roll my eyes at him and walk over to meet Dauntless.

'Hey, you,' She says to me.

"Hey, you back. Guess what?"

'I can go out with you.'

"And how do you know that? It was gonna be a surprise."

'I met Sarah and she told me. But I wish it was just me and you.'

'Actually, you can just get Ares to come out with you and then leave if you wish. I only said that to please Sarah,' Mother chimes in.

"Really?" I ask her, to which she nods.

'Thank you, Mother,' Dauntless says. Then, we leave. For a while, we just wander around, looking for Ares. Our wandering slowly getting quicker as we do.

"We're never gonna find him at this rate. Let's just split up," I say to her.

'Yeah, that's probably best,' She turns to me, holding my shoulders, 'I really enjoyed being with you. You are my world, for now, and ever. And if you ever ask for me to take you back, I will do so in a heartbeat,' She says with complete commitment.

"What? I meant to find Ares." I am incredibly confused at this, and more so that she'd miss the point by a mile. At least, I am until she starts smiling and giggling.

'I love that face you make when you're really confused and surprised at something.' Then, whatever look she means quickly morphs into one of unamusement.

"Not funny."

'Then why are you laughing?'

"I'm not." As I say this, I begin to laugh. "Piss off."

'Aww, you're so adorable.' She then pulls me in for a kiss, which I deepen by pushing into it. Then, we separate, much to Dauntless' disappointment.

"Come on. Let's find Ares and go outside. I'm dying to see sunlight again."

'Yeah. And I'm dying to have you to myself.' I smile at this before turning and leaving, heading in the other direction to where Dauntless is going.

Well, here you have it. Another chapter of AXT: Aftermath. And another chapter closer to Ending this fecking story. Don't get me wrong, I love writing this. But with this and AXT, we've probably gotten to either sixty or fifty chapters now, I've forgotten how many chapters were in AXT. And, you may notice I said 'we' and not 'I'. That's because I wouldn't be here doing this without you. And so, I thought that now would be a good time to thank you. Again, for sticking with me and all the follows, favourites and watched, for those on DA. Seriously, I would see no point in doing any of this if no one was reading it. So, thank you. Thank you so so much for reading, not just this story, but hopefully the other ones I have written and will continue writing. But, especially this one, as it tells, at last, at the beginning, my story. And so, with a final thank you and a huge hug to you all :p. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you later. *Brisk wave*


	4. Chapter 4

HI! I'm back! Sorry for the absence of fan fiction, school started back up last Wednesday and I've been drawing a bunch. Not much else to say really. If you were caught in the hurricane in America then I hope you're well! Enjoy!

With a smile on my face, I turn and go the opposite way to James. I am overjoyed that he can finally go outside with me. Just me and not iher/i. At the thought of her, or more the feelings I can't help but attach to her, I let out a frustrated sigh. 'I should tell him,' I say to o one in particular.

'Tell who?' Asks a voice that I despise even though I have no reason to.

'No one that's your business,' I reply, 'Now, good bye.' I walk past her, letting out a growl when she follows. I walk around, half looking for Ares and half trying to get rid of my tail. I reach a dead end and groan at the fact that I have to turn around. Instead, I just stand there for no reason bar that of not wanting to look at her. After a while, she breaks the silence.

'Why are you different?' She asks.

'What?'

'You're bigger than most of us and you look different. Why?'

'I'm the queens' guard, a Praetorian,' I reply gruffly, wanting this conversation to end

'A what?'

'I protect the queen when she's in danger.'

'Woah! But how can you do that if you're not there?

'I can get there in minutes.'

Oh yeah. That's really cool!' At the realization that what I said will make her want to hang around me more, I let out a very audible groan.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing that concerns you.' 'YOU! IT'S ALL YOU, YOU VERMIN! HE'S MINE!' A part of me that I oh so hate but can't control screams into my mind. But thankfully not out loud.

'Dad's so awesome, isn't he?' At the mention of James, my James, a switch flips in my head and I whirl around, grab her by her shoulders and pin her to the wall none too gently. She squeals in fright and pain at this and I relish in the sound.

Listen to me you little piece of filth. He's mine and only mine. If you ever go near him again, I'll rip off your tail and hang what's left of you after I'm done dismembering you. Do you understand?' All I feel is rage. Rage that my life mate is being taken away from me. And to make it worse, the thing taking him away is the exact same thing that nearly killed him. very nearly. There's no answer to my question. I lift her away from the wall a little bit to slam her back into it. 'I SAID, DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU PARASITE? YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A SENTIENT LITTLE BUG THAT TRIES TO GET IT'S GRUBBY LITTLE CLAWS AROUND WHATEVER IT CAN AND FEED ON IT UNTIL ITS' HOST SHRIVELS UP AND TURNS TO DUST!' Then, I get scarily calm, the kind of calm that you can easily tell has a helluva lot of anger seeping through the cracks. 'So. I will ask again. Do. You. Hear Me?' Silence. I go to slam her against the wall again when she finally answers.

'YES, YES!' I stop just at the apex of my action. I drop her to the floor quite roughly before leaning down and whispering to her,

'Don't forget your place.' I then walk away, leaving her in a sobbing ball on the floor. A part of me feels bad about what I said. But the rest, which is most of me, is quickly drowning out that little voice in the masses.

b*POV change.*/b

I'm walking around, determined to find Ares when I feel something wrong. Not wrong with me but with something, someone close to me. Close enough that it can only be two people. It feels different, Dauntless' and Vii's minds like this, they're both surprisingly distinguishable. It's Vii. She's hurt, not physically though. At least, not much. I immediately turn spin around on my heels and quite quickly make my way to where she is.

It takes me a while to find her, but when I do, I see her on the floor, sobbing hard. I rush over to her, reaching down and laying my hand on her back. To which she flinches. She looks up, backing away slightly as she does so. When she realizes it's me, she wraps her arms around me, sobbing even harder than before. I hold her and we stay like that for a very, very long time. I gently shush her and stroke her back the whole time.

Eventually, she starts to calm down. after another little bit, I push against her a bit so I can make eye contact with her. "Wanna tell me what happened?" I ask her, to which she hesitates. "Come on, you can tell me. How about you take a deep breath, that usually helps." She takes a few before looking back up to me.

'Dauntless was mean to me.'

"Really? What happened?"

'I was talking to her and noticed that something was bothering her. I tried mentioning you thinking that it'd cheer her up and she slams me against the wall and shouts at me. I guess I was what was wrong with her. Is there something wrong with me?'

"No. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are you so don't change for anyone unless you want to. And don't worry, I'll talk to Dauntless about this." Even though I said I will, and I will, I dread the thought of it. It'd be the first, well, second argument we've ever had. And especially since it was about something so important to me. What was gonna be a lovely time out with Dauntless has turned into the exact opposite.

'Thank you.' Her words pull me out of my thoughts.

"Don't thank me. I'm your father, it's what I should do. But, always remember that whatever happens and whatever I might say in the future, I will always love and cherish you." I hold her close to me and scoot myself over to the wall. I sit to rub her back again, being as gentle as I can since the first time I did, she winced at it.

And there you have it, another chapter! Wasn't this one... different? As I was writing the bit about Dauntless flipping out, a bunch of songs played that fit it perfectly. Thanks, Spotify! XD Anyhow, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one. James, away! *Jetpacks off into the sunset*


	5. chapter 5

After a while, Sarah finds her way over.

"Oh, what do we have here?" She asks.

"A sad little Xenomorph," I reply.

"Oh? What happened?"

"Apparently, Dauntless did."

"What did she do?"

'She called me names and slammed me into the wall,' Vii answers.

"Oh god, not this again."

"This has happened before?"

"Yeah, in the facility I was working in when I had her. I was the only one to be nice to her son whenever I brought anyone in with me, whether it be with or without my consent, she'd growl and snap at them if they ever came to close to me. Even my boyfriend."

"You had a boyfriend?"

"Very much ihad/i. It ended when I walked in on him balls deep in one of my colleagues. Fuckin' slut."

"Ouch. Sorry."

"Ah, don't worry about it that's long in the past. Besides, you have much more pressing things to think about." At her words, I let out a long sigh.

"I hope this doesn't damage our relationship."

"Hey," She gently grabs my chin and stares me down, "There's nothing, and I mean nothing that will do that. Dauntless cares for you so so much. But it's been a long and hard battle for her to be in this relationship with you. And it doesn't help that she has more Xeno in her than anyone else in this hive. Even Vii." She lets go of me and I let out another sigh, this one without most of the worry.

"I know. But still, I can't help but worry."

"Well, think of it this way; You're so attractive to her that she wants you all to herself. Trust me, she never shuts up about you" At this, I let out a small chuckle.

"Thanks. But I should get going."

"Yeah. Well, good luck I guess. And... you don't have to bring Ares with you if you don't want to."

"Thanks. I'll probably need it." With that, and another big squeeze for Vii, I head off in search for Dauntless. It doesn't take me long to find her, and with her is Ares.

'Hey, I found Ares,' She says to me as I near.

"I can see that," I joke in reply.

'Well, come on then!' She grabs my hand and with Ares' in the other, she flies at top speed to the exit, practically dragging both of us with her.Or, at least me. Safe to say, it doesn't take us long to get to the exit. Once there, I tell Dauntless to go on ahead since I wanna ask Ares something in private.

'Yeah?' He asks, after Dauntless is gone.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't go with us. i have to talk to Dauntless with something and I'd prefer if we were alone."

'Is it about Vitalia?'

"You know?"

'I had suspicions. I've seen the way she looks at her.'

"Hmm. Well, will you?"

'Yeah, of course. Just don't let Sarah catch you or she'll have your head. And then Dauntless will have hers, something I would really like to avoid.' He smiles as he says this. I let out an amused huff. *I have no idea if that's what you call it*

"Don't need to tell me twice. She can be absolutely terrifying sometimes."

'At least you're not in a relationship with her.'

"Oh?"

'Nothing bad but she can be so sneaky. Any more and I'll have a heart attack.'

"Huh. Well, I'm gonna head before Dauntless comes back and drags me through the forest in excitement."

'Do. I'll see you later.'

"Of course!" With that, I turn and lightly jog into the forest. It doesn't take me long to get deep in the forest, even shorter to get lost. So, I simply keep walking, periodically calling out Dauntless' name. A few minutes later, I reach a small clearing. The strange mossy grass you find in a pine forest blankets the small area where enough precious light can get through for it to grow. The ground is dry, or at least mostly. So I decide to sit down, resting my weight on my arms behind me. It's a strangely nice view for it being forest. Don't get me wrong, I like the look of peering into a pine forest as much as the next, but it's still nice. With a sigh, a thump and the thought of what needs to be done, I fall backwards and stare into the sky. There isn't any clouds today, making me just that bit annoyed that today is gonna be ruined by the talk I'll have with Dauntless. Just then, a familiar domed and crested head pops into view behind me.

'Found you,' Dauntless says, planting a kiss on my lips.

"Hey. Mind there." I push myself back into a sitting position and turn to face Dauntless.

'Come on, there's a place I wanna show you that I'll think you'll like.'

"I dunno, I'm pretty comfy here." Then, surprisingly, she hoists me up by my arms and gently, but still Linda roughly,throws me over her shoulder.

'Then, I guess I'll have to carry you.'

"I can walk on my own, you know."

'Yeah, but I like the thought of being able to drop you at any point of you annoy me.'

"You're a butt," I joke. Them, she places me down and let's me walk beside her.

'Party pooper.'

"You wouldn't have it any other way."

'Well, you got something right.' After a little bit of silent walking, mainly because I ran out of things to talk about five minutes ago and I want to delay 'the talk' for as long as possible, we arrive at a small cliff overlooking a crystal clear pond with a small stream leading from it. There's even a deer drinking from it! "Well, you were right when you said that I'll like it." When Dauntless doesn't answer, I turn to see that she's sitting down against a tree, playing with her tail blade, clearly lost in thought. Something I've never seen before. I go over to her and sit against the same tree.

"You okay?" She looks at me.

'You're still mine, right?' With a sigh, I realise why she did what she did.

"Is that what this is about?"

'What do you mean?'

"I know what you did to Vii."

'I- I don't know what happened until after. I just heard her say your name and I just lost it."

"That isn't a good reason to 'just lose it', Dauntless."

'I know. But... Ugh! I just...' She sighs. "You're mine. And no one else's. I've- We've been through heaven and hell to be with each other and I'm sure as hell not gonna let another one of my kind take you away from me.' I take her hands in mine.

"Dauntless. You are my world, you're everything to me and no one is ever. Ever gonna take me from you. Not some random guy who thinks he can take my stuff, not the random junkie in the alley, and definitely not Vii. But, she's a part of my world too now. And I want to keep it that way. But I want you to be with me too." Then, I lean into her, pressing my lips against hers. 'I know it's difficult but I really want you to try and control these urges you have. And every time they come up, remember that I'm always yours, for now and ever.' She pulls away.

'I didn't explain to you about that.'

"I had my suspicions. Which you just confirmed."Then, I pull her in for a hug, which she returns. We sit like that for a while before I hear what could only be the Xenomorph equivalent of a sniffle. I look up at her, "You okay?" She nods.

'Yeah. It's just...'

"What?" Then she pulls me tighter.

'I don't want to lose you. You are everything to me!' By the end of her sentence, she's choking on her words. I let her continue, thinking that it would be the best thing for her. 'I don't know what I would do if you left me. It'd be even worse than last time!' I pull her even tighter to me, stroking her back as I shush her softly.

"I am never ever ever not going to leave you. And I will do everything I can to stay."

'Please never die.'

"Not for a long time." Then we simply hold each others, drinking the others love through our link. After a while, I feel Dauntless start to calm down and a short while later, I set my plan to lighten the mood into motion.

"You know what the best thing about you is?"

'What?' Now, we are laying on the floor, looking at the sky. Well, Dauntless is. I'm just watching her, unable to understand how something so dangerous and powerful can be so graceful and, more importantly, as diverse and loving.

"You're so ticklish." With that, I poke her in between her ribs. She squirms, giggles and then jumps about four feet away.

'Don't.' I get up.

"How about this. If I can catch you, I can do anything I want to you." At this, she goes from standing on four legs, to two and leans against a tree.

'And if I win?'

"Well, if you catch me, you can do whatever you want with me."

'Oh? Anything?'

"Anything. Either way, it's a win win for me so..." Then, she sensually stalks over to me before leaning down to me eye level.

'Youre. On.'

"Then, you better get going." At that, she Turns and walks off into the forest. As she dies, I happen to notice the slight sway of her butt. Whether it was purposefully or not, I don't know. But it's only when I hear a small chuckle that I stop watching it.

'Caught you looking.' She had turned around before she said that. She blows me a kiss before she continues into the forest, definitely adding more away to her hips. I blush slightly.

'Well, that narrows down what I can expect to happen if I lose. Maybe,' I think to myself before I start off into the forest at a light jog, keeping my ears and eyes open for any kind of sounds. It doesn't take me long to get deep in. I somehow manage to find my way back to the clearing I was in earlier and, thinking that it would give me.a bit of an advantage, I stay there.

Nothing happens for a long time. So long that I start to get bored. Then, just before I decide to leave the safety of the clearing, I spot something. Slight movement just at the edge of the forest. I stand up, but stay in a half crouch, ready to move if need be. Then, a head pops up. It's a deer and I let my guard fall.

"You sure are patient, aren't you Dauntless?" I call out, making the deer run. I sit back down. A few minutes later, a surprisingly unnerving cry of pain rings through the forest. Not that long later, a disemboweled deer is thrown into the clearing. It didn't make me feel disgusted so much as it simply unnerved me. That and it made me a tad bit hungry. I walk over to it.

"Well, don't you have a good throwing arm?" Again, silence. Upon inspection not the deer, I see that it has something carved into it.

'If you eat this, you've immediately forfeited. Turn over to continue.' With a shrug and a 'what the hell', I turn it over and continue to read it.

'Gotcha.' Then, on cue, I feel a warm breath on the back of my neck, accompanied by a spine chilling giggle. I immediately gun it for the forest since it would slow down Dauntless. At least, a small bit.

"Alright then. Any ideas?" I ask my split.

 **'Isn't that cheating? Also, There's a log pile there.'** I see what he was talking about and shove it down behind me, spinning as I do. It turns out that all the foliage and trees helps a Xenomorph chase its' prey if Dauntless' proximity is anything to go by. She is so close that she didn't have time to evade the logs and topples over them. I continue onwards, desperately trying to think up a way to win. I am so focused on my thoughts that I don't realise that there's a root exposes over the soil until my foot decides to hug it and my face gets the urge to kiss the earth. After a moment of confusion, I turn over to see a looming figure literally blotting out the sun. Surprisingly, I have managed to go in a circle around the clearing and am now on the other side.

'Caught you~' With a sigh, I 'give in'.

"Okay then, you win."

'Good. Now, I can have my fun with you.' She leans down, going on all fours and crawling on top of me. The trap is set. Suddenly, I shove her off me, roll to the side and make like the wind.

'Hey! I won.'

"Not dead yet."

'What?'

"Two words: Battle Sim."

'Well now. This just got interesting.' At that, I hear a snarl and the heavy thudding of footsteps. I steal a glance behind me to see Dauntless closing in on me at a terrifying speed. I bend down and grab a stick, disguising it as me stumbling. It loses me ground but I don't mind. The footsteps are close now, so close that I swear I can just feel the tip of a claw brush the back of my neck. At the slight contact, I actually manage to come to a dead stop and spin around at the same time. When I do, I grab Dauntless by the waist and we spin to the ground. There is a short scuffle before I manage to get on top, pinning her down as best as I can with my body weight. Not that it's so much good against a Inormal/I Xeno, much less a Praetorian. Nevertheless less, it works long enough for me to use the pretend knife to pretend stab Dauntless.

"Dead. Dead. And... Dead," I say, breathing heavily from the exertion and relief.

'How... The hell did you manage to do that?' Dauntless then asks me, just as surprised as me. I shrug.

"You're asking the wrong person. But, that was really fun.' I laugh a bit at the last part, so does Dauntless, who has now recovered her breath.

'Well then. It's clear that it was just a complete fluke. First to five?' I immediately nod. And so, after a little rest, we have another go. Dauntless wins four, Then I manage to win three in a row, albeit with dirty tactics.

I'm walking through the woods, everything was dead silent, probably because everything was asleep. It got dark a few hours ago but we didn't care. Strangely enough, even though I could see nearly the full range of colour in darkness as I could during the day, things still look different in the dark. I hear a branch snap and my eyes dart in the direction. I keep going forward, albeit at a much slower pace. Nothing else stirs so I look forward again. At that moment, I see something twitch in the corner of my eye. If I hadn't looked back, I wouldn't have seen the jet black, segmented tail centimetres from my arm. I immediately take a step back and turn to run in the other direction. I figured out that, if you want to survive a Xenomorph encounter, your best chance is to fight them on your terms, not theirs. But alas, if I had noticed it just a second earlier, I might've been fine. And there's nothing I can do to stop myself from being hoisted up by the arm to meet my adversary. Smiling, she opens her mouth and shoots her second jaw forward. Instinctively, I flinch and close my eyes, but to simply feel a little bump and a prod from the canines on it.

'Dead. I win.' Dauntless mocks happily. With a sigh, I admit defeat, this time for real.

"Alright, fine. You win," I announce sadly. "How did you get that distraction though?"

'I didn't, it was just a happy coincide.'

"I wouldn't have fallen for it if that didn't happen. Mind putting me down?" She gently sets me down and I take a deep breath. It hurts my chest, something I had completely forgotten about. I wince and gently rub it.

'You okay?' I nod.

"Yeah. Just I don't think pulling me up by the arm helped with the recovery of my numerous chest injuries."

'Sorry.'

"It's okay, it's my fault for not remembering about it. That was fun." Now, Dauntless was beside me, hanging from a low branch.

'You got that right. But do you know what's gonna be even better?" I let out a sigh.

"Alright then, out with it." She leans in as close as she can.

'Your'e. Mine~ but, for how long? A week?' I let out a small chuckle.

"How about no. Four days. I'd say you can make up for all the lost time with how long I can go without sleep. Speaking of, I need some."

'You're not the only one.' With that, we head home, her arm over my shoulder and since these about two feet taller than me, I have mine around her waist.

 ***Biology stuff coming a up next. It's not exactly anything sexually explicit but not everyone will like it so skip it if you want. But, i will say that if you do, you'll miss ot on some a important stuff for a later story I have planned, and information on the more intimate workings if a Xenomorph. Anyways, proceed with caution. Actually, don't proceed at all if you don't want to read things that some people will go 'ewwww' at.**

After a while, Dauntless asks, 'Do you remember when I was in heat?' I'm surprised at the sudden question.

"I doubt I'll ever forget it, why?" She stops.

'Well. How do I put this? How familiar with human women and their periods?'

"I know enough, what does that have to do with this?" Now, I'm very confused.

'Well. Like they have one every month, we go into heat.'

"Oh. I'm assuming you're in heat now?"

'No. But I was earlier.'

"Sorry?"

'With Xenomorphs, it's a little different. When were in heat, which usually happens over the course of a week, we basically get a burning feeling in our stomach and our... I forget the word.'

"Your vagina?"

'Yes, that's it. Anyway. The longer we leave it during the week, the more powerful it gets. The same goes for if we leave it a month. And we might feel it more than once in a day' I think on her words for a moment.

"Ok. But, if that's the case then how did you manage to keep yourself off of me for all that time?"

'I have my ways,' She says slyly.

"Um, okay. But, why are you telling me this?"

'I thought you would want to know is all.'

"Ok.. thanks for telling me, I guess."

'You're welcome." Then we walked in silence for another while before Dauntless speaks up again,

'James?'

"Yes?"

'Remember how I said that the feeling might come back?'

"Has it?" She stops again. This time gently taking my face in between her hands and locking her lips with mine.

'I'll take that as a yes,' I think to myself. We stay like that for a little while, just making out. Before we have to seperate so I can breath.

'Out I breath?' She asks. I nod. Then, thought crosses my mind.

"What about my chest?"

'We can be gentle. That's if you want to do this. I can wait longer if you want.' After a moment of consideration, I make my decision. I pull Dauntless in and lock our lips again. And, feeling a bit... frisky, I suppose, I trail my hand down to Dauntless' butt and give it a firm but gentle squeeze. She purrs in my mouth at the action.

Well, I think that's a good place to end this. I'm sorry if it's been a while since I've uploaded anything to do with literature, I've been busy with school and drawing. But, I don't have much else to do today since my mum and I are in AE because she has a really really bad pain in her side so we, well she, decided to go in and I came with. So, I have loads of time to write!! Especially since we've been in here for six hours and we've only gotten our initial examination. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you later!!


	6. chapter 6

I wake up the next day with a groan and a stretch before I turn and see my definition of beauty looking back.

"Morning," I say to her, laying my arm over her torso and pulling her closer to me.

'And to you,' She replies. Then, she too pulls me closer to her before she snuggles into me, her chin nestling into my back. We stay like that for a moment before I speak again,

"You're my Goddess, you know." At that, she takes her head from it's resting place and presses her lips against mine.

'I know.' That's all that's said for another while. We simply enjoy eachothers' company.

"This is probably gonna ruin the mood, but I want you to really try to get along with Vii."

'I swear I'll try. I'm sorry for acting the way I did with her.'

"I'm not the one you have to apologise to."

'I know. How do you think she'll take it?'

"Hopefully? Fine. But, I really don't know. You have her quite the emotional beating." She sighs at this.

'Sometimes I hate the feelings I get. They usually lead to someone, or something getting hurt.'

"Not always. We just 'sorted out' one of them and I didn't get hurt." I stroke her crest, making her purr a bit.

'Not this time, but, If I'm correct, I cracked a few ribs the time before.'

"Look. Don't worry about them. Because one, that's a different bridge. And two, I'll be here to help you, should you need it." She smiles.

'Thanks.'

"Any time. But, much to my disappointment, we need to head back. We're already overdue as it is." At that, I get up, making Dauntless groan in disagreement. She doesn't get up, but instead throws her arms out towards me.

'Staaaaayyyyy.' I smile a bit at this.

"I would if I could Dauntless, I would if I could. But, I need to find my pants, I don't think Sarah would appreciate it very much if I came back without clothes in." With another groan, she gets up too.

'Ok,' She replies grumpily.

"Aww, come on Dauntless, it's not that bad." Then, I pull her in close to me and kiss her. 'And when we get home, I might have a little 'gift' for you.' While I was saying this, Dauntless was slowly but surely pulling her arms around my neck, letting them hang criss-crosses behind it.

'Mmmmmm, I like the sound of that.' She pulls me on closer. 'Coild I get a little hint as to what this 'gift' is?'

'Im pretty sure any kind of hint would Rui the surprise. Besiees, it'll be all the more surprising this way.' I break the kiss, needing air. This also allows Duantless pout at me reply.

'Very well then.' Them, she pulls me in for anothwe shorter kiss before continuing, 'But I'm 'redeeming' this 'gift' as soon as we get back.'

"That is fine by me. Now, shall we?" I hold out my hand as if Dauntless is royalty and I am the humble soldier helping her out of her carriage. No idea why, I just do.

'Ooohhh, very gentlemanly.'

"What can I say? I aim to please." With that, and Dauntless' hand in mine, we make our way back to the hive.

Nothing really interesting happens on our way back. Well, if you count catching a few small rabbits and such because we were hungry interesting then you're in luck.

'No hints at all?' Dauntless asks as we near the emdg of the forest, which leads into the clearing that houses the entrance to our hive.

"Nope. None at a-" I'm currently off by a deep, threatening hate filled hiss from Dauntless. Knowing that it's not directed at me, I look forward to see the one man I hate the most. Like lightning, I've taken off in his direction, closing the big gap between up is a terrifyingly short time. He turns to face me and smiles. By now, I'm in arms reach and pull my arm back before launching it right towards his chest. My punch lands right where I want it to and, surprisingly goes through? It's as off all this is happening in slow motion as I can make out the feeling of the bones in my hand crunching and breaking as they go through, and then right through the other side. Them, it all speeds up. Since gravity isn't in my favour, I collide with the ground, bringing what is now the corpse of the person who is responsible for everything that has happened to me after I came out of the sims. But, at the same time, is resposnible for Vii. I look at his smiling, still face and am overcome with anger. I small my fists into his face, shouting as I do. It doesn't take me long to turn it into pulp.

'Hey, that's enough!' Dauntless says, but I barely register it. All my hate for this man, this beast with no morality at all is pouring through me and is pummeling him to dust, or is trying to, at least. The only reason I stop is because I'm pulled off by Dauntless. I snap my head in her direction, breathing heavily.

b"What?"/b I yell in her face. Her answer is a kiss, locking our hands together.

'Come back to me.' She opens her mind to me, beckoning me in. I connect to her and she immediately begins sending me soothing, loving thoughts and feelings. It doesn't take me long to calm down. After a little while longer, we sperate physically and mentally. I let out a long sigh.

"Thanks." She smiles, running her hand through my hair.

'There's no need to thank me.' In that moment, I see movement behind Dauntless, who is facing the forest. It's only for a second but it's unmistakable, there's someone in the forest. Stepping around Dauntless to get a better look, I peer into the now eerie and potentially dangerous forest.

'What is it?'

"There's someone in-" I don't get a chance to finish my sentence before something flies out if the forest towards my face. In one quick movement, I slap it aside, turning to get a better look at it. It's a somewhat small sphere, big enough to fill your hand but not too big as to be difficult to throw. Then, small cylinders pop out of it. In that instance, I stand, turn, grab Dauntless and dive as far away from it as I can. A second later, a cloud of greenish gas erupts from the small device, engulfing Dauntless, me and the entrance to the hive. A terrifying familiar feeling of burning and tightness begins to eat away at my lungs, at least that's what it feels like. I try to move to find that I've lost all control over my body and am stuck on top of Dauntless, who is also choking on the gas. With what little strange in my arms I still have in my lead limbs, I, slowly but surely, move my body to encompass Dauntless as much as I can. O manage to get my arms somewhat under her before they root themselves to the ground. I feel her tail loosely wrap around me as much as she can and her arms wrap under mine and up to the opposite shoulder. A few seconds later, she goes limp underneath me. It doesn't take me long to follow suit, matter how.much human is in me.

YES! ANOTHER CHAPTER DOWN. HOO-FUCKING-AH! *Clears throat* excuse me, got a little excited there. And here ends another chapter of A Xenomorphs' Tale: Aftermath. I know it's really short but I thought that this was a good place to end it as it's where things get interesting. And surprising too. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you later. Byesies *Mock salute*


	7. Chp, 7 Rest and Departure

The next thing I feel is, well simply put, agony. My skin is burning and so are my lungs. I can't breathe, let alone move. My senses are going haywire. I see shapes made of yellowish green, smell the sea, a rose, some kind of perfume, along with other things. I can hear music. What kind or song, I can't tell. I'm moving, dragged somewhere. Where, I don't know but eventually the sea of green gives out to blue, and a lighter, more alive green and a face. I recognise the face from somewhere but I can't who it is, my eyes are full of tears and are burning also. The only thing I can make out is that he's a man, it at least has the frame of one. After he stops dragging me, he lets my arms fall to the ground before walking off somewhere. He comes back and turns my head. I see a black form, it's heaving and shaking. Its head looks strange. I feel a pin prick in my chest and my senses get a bit sharper. My eyes clear up slightly and I can see the form better. Needless to say, it's terrifying. A word comes to mind, a name when I think of it. Xenomorph. No. No, not for this one, for her. Dauntless. I regain some ability to think and it floods back. Dauntless. Vii. Mother. Ares. Aran. All names of the people I care about, most of them being my friends. A hand grabs me head by the chin and turns it. A bright light shines into my eyes, making me try to flinch away but all I can do is close my eyes. The light hurts, too bright. From behind my eyelids, I see the light go away and I open them. I can recognise the face more and a name comes to mind. Cato. Along with it comes hatred. Deep rooted hatred, a want to rip this man to shreds. He leaves my view, for a moment before my head flips to the side, placing him right back in the centre. I want to look at the other, Dauntless. I try to move my head but nothing happens. I try again, again, again before I actually manage to turn my head back over to her, my Goddess. A part of me I would never give up for anything, even a chance to go home again. I hear something, a voice in my head. No, two. One sounds... Like me? The other could only be her. They're muffled, no just quiet and distorted. Like a radio not properly tuned in. I concentrate on them and they slowly get clearer.

'Get up. Get up.' They're still quiet. I try harder.

'James. Get up, please. I need you.' Harder.

'HEY ASSHOLE, GET UP!' I feel another pin prick in my chest, this time, there's a very distinct difference. Immediately, I regain the feeling in my arms and legs and my eyesight completely clears up. I turn over, still incredibly weak, and try to stand. I barely make it to my knees before I can't continue. I try again, this time feeling stronger. Whatever that pin prick was, it is helping. I stand, rolling my shoulders, hearing very loud cracks as I do.

"Well, well, well. Looks like someone's feeling better." I snap my head to the direction of the voice and find it has come from the source of my hate. With a growl, I start towards him, slowly speeding up into a run. He stands from his sitting against a tree, crouching a bit. I charge towards him, being pushed on by whatever he gave me, my split and just pure rage. He doesn't move in time and he slams into the tree. He coughs before saying,

"It seems that someone's out for blood." I don't listen, every word that comes out of his mouth is poison. Instead, I let one of my hands drop from him before balling in into a fist and slamming it into his face. I do it again. Again. And again. I go to do it again but I find myself being forced away from him with a pressure against my stomach. I roll across the grass, winded slightly. I go to get back up to find myself tackled again. I feel a pressure against my throat and look down as much as one can in this situation to find a blade against it.

"Look. I did-" He's cut off, well he's still talking, I'm just not listening, by a voice. A young voice. Not Sarahs', younger. Vii.

'Dad!' I know exactly where she's going, and that means through the gas. I try to call out, tell her no but my voice won't come. I feel her pain. The burning pain I felt only a minute or two ago. In that instant, my goal changes from the one word ringing in my mind; kill. To a different two; Save her. I push him off me, immediately darting towards the green sea. As I enter, I can feel my lungs scream and my skin burn, but strangely, it's not as bad as before. Nevertheless, I keep running, trying to find any sort of difference in the fog that would help me find her. Instead, I just see grass again, and the entrance to the hive. I turn and run back in. Now, my lungs are screaming louder, I don't have much time left. Then, just out if the corner of my eye, I spot it; a tail. I dart to it, kneeling down beside the form it belongs to. Vii looks up at me, or at least tries to but can't. I pick her up, every second, my lungs scream louder than the last. At this point, I'm completely lost in the fog. So, I do the only thing I think of. I reach out with my mind, using it as a compass of sorts. Thankfully, I begin to feel the pull of Dauntless. I turn, running as fast as I can to get out of the gas. The burning gets worse, to the point where it begins to weaken me. It gets worse still. And worse. I feel like collapsing, every muscle in my body telling me to do so. But I keep going. My mind starts to fog again and my lifeline fades away. But still, I keep running. I start to stumble. The fog begins to clear slightly, sending a wave of relief through me. Through the ever thinner sea of green, I see a welcoming form. I run over to her to find that the gas has now covered her body, most likely from a change in the wind. I panicked, there's no way I can get them both out at the same time and by the time I get back... Then, I see a form through the green, coming towards us. As the person gets closer I quickly realise who it is. I put down Voice and get into a fighting stance. With him there, I'd never get either of them out anyway. But, as he gets closer, he stops and holds out his hands.

"I don't want to fight," He says. "I wouldn't have come here without an army otherwise." I stare him down and when he takes a step towards Dauntless, I take four and place myself between them.

"Please. Let, me, help." I'm at an impasse. I could either let the single most hated man in my family carry one of the people who mean the most to me or I could not take the chance and try to kill him and get them both out.

b'You know your choice, man. I don't like it as much as you.'/b

'You have a surprisingly level head.'

b'Well our daughter and our mate are currently dying, one of us needs to keep our cool./b With that, and a reluctant huff, I move out if the way and pick up Vii. Before we can leave, Cato says to me,

"Here, this'll take the edge off." He holds out a syringe to me, "Right to your heart." Taking it from him with a suspicious look, I whisper a prayer and push the needle through my skin right into the thing which keeps me alive. I wait a few moments and nothing happens. Well, nothing bad, but it definitely took the edge off. With a sigh of relief, I start towards the edge of the gas with a quick stride, remembering about the precious cargo I'm carrying. We make our way out of the gas, naturally with me getting out first and having to go back and drag Dauntless the rest of the way. When we get out, I immediately sit down beside the two, who are near enough side by side, and to the best of my limited ability, check to see if they'll be okay. But all I can tell is that they're breathing.

"They'll be fine," Cato says, "I made that batch non-lethal."

"Why are you helping me?"

"I've made mistakes that I want to pay for. I know it sounds cliché but it's true."

"how do I know that you're not lying?" Out of the corner of my eye, since I wasn't looking at him, I see him pull out a knife and within the next few seconds, I'm on top of him, holding him to the ground with my first in the air ready to strike. I'm about to when I feel something poking into lower torso.

"This knife can gut you with one clean Slice. Back off. Like I said, I don't wanna cause trouble but that doesn't mean I won't defend myself." Reluctantly, I get off him, still keeping a keen eye on him. Or, more specifically, the knife in his hand. I examine it from a distance, almost immediately recognising it as the tail blade of a Xenomorph.

'Of course it is,' I think to myself. A moment later, he flips it over so that he's holding the blade and brings it slightly closer, being clear that he wants me to have it.

"Take it. I won't have any need for it in a few days anyway." I eye the knife, half convinced that all this is an elaborate trick. After a while, he flips it back over, sheathing it again.

"Suit yourself." After a minute or two of silence while we wait for the gas to clear, I ask,

"What changed?"

"What?"

"What happened that made you change your mind on the whole murderous, traitorous psychopath thing?" With a sigh, I get my answer,

"Well, after you escaped with your little friend, my people-"

"You're people?"

"As unlikely as it seemed, they were family, or at least the closest thing I had to one any more." I take a moment to think it through.

"Ok. Continue."

"Well, my people got scared. And I'm pretty sure you know what comes from fear."

"So they betrayed you."

"They poisoned me." I look at him, eyebrow raised,

"They found their way into a very important and off limits place where I stored all of my personal experiments. Mainly different toxins and such. But there was one there that'll kill you in about a week after exposure."

"Seems a little counter-productive."

"Not when said toxin has been created by Weyland Yutani and the only antidote is in their hands. And since my people tried to kill me, I've been forced to cut all my ties with Wey Yu. They're not very trustworthy." I sit there, thinking, actually believing him!

"I know you have no reason to trust me, I don't deserve it anyway. But please, let me do what I came to do." There's a moment if silence as I think.

"Two such opposèd kings encamp them still,

In man as well as herbs; grace and rude will." His last words catch my attention.

"I've done more enough of one of them and far too little of the other. Please, help me right that."

"Well, what did you come to do?"

"Well, to give you this," At that, he slowly pulls out the knife again, holding the blade and pointing the handle to me. Hesitantly, I take it, keeping an eye on him as I do. At closer inspection, I realise that it isn't just any blade, but that of a Xeno.

"Where'd you get this?"

"From a very wealthy person. There's only two of these in existence, you know." I turn, looking into the green fog.

'Why else did you come?' For a while, he doesn't answer

"It's about your mother." At the word 'mother', something snaps inside my head. I immediately get up, grabbing Cato and pulling him up too. I throw him against a tree, his head snapping off it. He dizzily gets up, turning to me, wiping blood from his lip.

"What was that fo-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before I send my fist flying into his face, he spins, grabbing the tree now in front of him for support. I take two steps, grab the back of his head and begin to beat his face into the bark.

"Don't! You! Ever! Mention! Her!" I scream into his ear, still beating him. I stop, sharply pulling back on his head so that his eyes meet mine.

"You hear me?" He doesn't answer, probably because he doesn't have time to as I quickly start to beat his face into the tree again. I keep on doing it. Again. Again. And again. The only reason I stop is because I hear a small, frail voice call for me.

'Dad?' I'm immediately darting to her side, holding her, checking if she's okay.

"Hey, sweetheart." She coughs, sending fear through me. I can feel her mind, weak and numb.

'My chest hurts.'

"So does mine, love. You'll be okay." I then hold her close, hugging into her weak firm. She hugs me back, or at least tries to. She's so weak that she can barely get her arms around my back. I hear another cough, although it doesn't come from Vii. I look up to see that Dauntless is now coming around. I look back down to Vii.

"I'll be back in a second, sweetheart." I go to let her go but she tries to hold onto me tighter. Although she can't really. She shakes her head.

'No. I don't want you to put me down.' For a moment, I'm stuck until I quickly think if something.

"Up we go," I say, hoisting her up and carrying her over to my mate. I put her down beside Dauntless, with her partly wrapping her arms around Vii.

"Wakey wakey," I then say, earning a little chuckle from Dauntless.

'Hey.'

"How are you feeling?"

'Like my lungs are on fire. So, peachy.' She chuckles again but is interrupted by a cough.

"Well, you're not the only one. I had to lug you out of there." Then, through our private link, she says,

'I thought I lost you. I couldn't feel your mind for a while.' I then lean down, hugging both her and voice tight and close.

"I thought I lost both of you." Then, I hear someone spit behind me. I turn to find Cato rinsing his mouth out with a bottle of water. For a while, I stare at him, unsure of what to do.

"What?" He asks, like he's not the one who ruined my life. At that thought, I walk over to him, grab him and throw him against a tree, holding him against it.

"Gonna finish me now?" I want to.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because your daughter is behind you" I turn my head to see Vii and Dauntless both weakly looking at me. I turn back to Cato.

"You deserve to die."

"Then kill me." His statement catches me off guard.

"I have nothing left. My people threw me to the wolves, you've beaten me to a pulp, I'm dying in a few days." I feel a lump form in my throat, much to my surprise. At that moment, I hear another voice.

"James?" Sarah calls out, from behind me, "Is that you? I... have something I need to tell you." At that moment, her head appears over the slope of the hill. She sees only me, initially. But then quickly notices Vii and Dauntless huddled together on the ground. And then Cato. After a moment of shock, the look in her eyes is replaced with one of anger. Slowly picking up speed until she's at a full on sprint, she races toward Cato and I. I immediately step in between then, gently grabbing her by the shoulders when she reaches me. She looks at me, confused.

"You realise who that is, right?" I nod. "Then move." Her last words have that kind of stubborn bitterness in them that you don't see often. She hates him, that much is obvious.

"No."

"What?"

"He saved Dauntless and Vii." She stops. She doesn't say anything for a few moments.

"Sorry?"

"He gassed us and then helped me save Day tless and Vii. There's no way I would've been able to get them out in time otherwise. She's silent.

"And that's enough? To erase everything he's done?" I shake my head.

"No. God no. But it's enough that I'm not going to immediately kill him." She looks past me at him, beaten and in the floor. I can smell blood in the air and assume it's his.

"What happened to him?"

"You're looking at what happened," Cato butts in. She looks back at me.

"I snapped."

"What? What do that mean?"

"He mentioned my mum and I snapped." She then pulls me away from the others by the arm.

"James, that's not right." I sigh.

"I know. It's just, certain things... set off my split. Then things like this happen."

"Still, that's not right. Even for someone like Cato. I don't wanna see you become like him." Her words hit home.

"I'm sorry." And then, my split speaks.

b"I'm not."/b Sarah looks at me, slightly surprise by my words.

"Was that..." I nod.

"Yeah."

b"And I'll stick by those words. He ruined everything for me. Why shouldn't I end him?"/b

"Because you're better than that," She then says, it makes me chuckle. Well, not me. But... me.

b"Heh. Typical answer. And the short answer to that is no."/b

"No? What do you mean, no?"

b"Believe it or not, I committed cannibalism once. And that's only the start of the list. And it all, TO DO, WITH, HIM?"/b At the end of my sentence, I'm scream and pointing at Cato. I've lost track of who's talking, something that doesn't happen often. Needless to say, we both have similar feelings about what he did. Strong, strong feelings.

"I don't care," Sarah replies, stepping closer, "You're still you." This makes me laugh.

"I'm not me. Who knows what the fuck I am now. Even I don't know, I never knew!"

"You're you. Who cares? I certainly don't. You made Dauntless happy. More than I ever could. And for that, it doesn't matter who or what you are." All the time she was talking, she was getting closer. And I spot it. Just for a second, that's all. But that's more than enough. I'm able to make out a face from the PDA Sarah's holding behind her back, away from my view. And although I can't be sure... It struck memory hard, bringing up thoughts of my mother. It's her, in the picture.

"What's that?" I ask quickly. She hides it further behind her.

"What's what?" I immediately spot the lie. Anyone would, even if they were fully human! But being so close and riled up and linked with Sarah through the hive mind and being part Xeno, I can tell that she's lying.

"The PDA behind your back. And don't deny it, I saw it." Yet, she does anyway.

"What?" She asks, trying to sound confused. Doing a terrible job at it too.

"Sarah. I'm two feet taller than you, I, can, see, it. Now give it to me please." I hear a soft think and she takes a step back, twisting something into the dirt with her shoe.

"I don't know what you're on about, James." I sign, and as gently as possible, tackle her to the ground, making sure she lands gently. Not hard in the moss. I then turn my head to where her foot was, seeing a PDA half buried in the mossy dirt. I look back at Sarah, and in the next moment, she darts for it. I'm quicker, snatching it and getting up by the time she reaches the air where it was. Turning it around, I wipe off the dirt and see a nice, professional picture of my mother. Like the k s you get if you're getting a passport photo. It's a news article, reading... reading... I turn around, shoving the PDA into Sarahs' hands.

"What does that say?"

"James." She is going to do things when I cut her off.

"WHAT DOES IT SAY?" She looks at me, Pity and works In her eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry. I-" I grab her by the collar, pushing her into a tree trunk.

"WHAT DOES IT SAY!" At this point, it's more of a command than a question. She looks at me, sighs and then says what's written down, not looking. She doesn't need to.

"b*I don't know or want to give my mum a different name In this so it's staying blank. Soz. Just make up one/b Clarke, mother of four, volunteer at refugee camp 'Alpha Zero-One-Five, found dead in alleyway." I let her go, not focusing on her anymore. And more on the immediate feeling In my chest. Probably the one thing that scares me the most. That dark, ever hungry, ever eating, ever expanding, deep, dark hole in my chest. Something I haven't felt in years. The feeling in your chest, the one right in the middle, the absence that grows. Grows until it swallows you just to shrink back down, making you think it's fine when it's only dormant, waiting for you to feel better just to rip that away from you. The feeling that always comes back when you think if it. The one that never truly leaves...

It's been a day or two since I saw Cato. I don't care about anything anymore. I just eat, del and think. That day, I didn't talk to Dauntless. Yesterday, I didn't play with Vii. All I did was play with the knife in my hands, flipping it. Anything to try and get rid of that terrible, burning, ice cold feeling in my chest. But it never did. I'm even doing it now, flipping it, watching the light reflect off the tip of the blade. I stop, I hold it in just the right place as to let the light dance along the black, shiny surface. I watch the blade as it shakes slightly in my hand. Right now, all I can imagine is it being red. With me on the floor, just simply... done. Done with all this SHIT! Not that greenish yellow, red. The way it should be. The way I want it to be. I don't talk to people either, as much as I want to. I feel alone, in this big, big hive. I want to, talk to people, that is. But at the same time, I don't. I don't want them to worry. I chuckle at this thought.

'How very British,' I think. It's the same with slitting my wrists. I want it to end, yet I don't want to ruin people in the way only a loss will. I hold the tip of the blade in between my fingers, I electing it aimlessly. It's perfect. In every way. The perfect killing tool. I then he it to my wrist, not to cut it, but to imagine it. And then Dauntless comes around the corner.

Oh wow, that hit quick. As soon as I find usher writing, a slight ebb of sadness Langer through my chest. I thought this would be a good way in which to describe what it's like for me. Now, it's not as severe for me now, I don't wanna kill myself or anything. But, when it was at its' worst, I did imagine it. Just slightly, but that's enough. The rest, is pretty much what it's like now. I hope this explained it well. And with that, and the final segment of 'A Xenomorphs' Tale: Aftermath', I bid thee farewell for now. Until the next time.

See ya.

Also, a quick after edit. I can't access my editing software I use to check spelling and such so it may be a bit shite, grammar wise. Also, it may be broken as fuck. I really hope not, this took I don't know is how long to write. Anyways, bye!


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